Winners of GSWA's Primrose Farm Photo Contest Announced

Tropical Storm Andrea blew herself out of New Jersey just in the nick of time! Happily, that meteorological coincidence set a sunny stage for the Great Swamp Watershed Association's much-anticipated Essence of Primrose Photo Contest on June 8, 2013.

Click here to learn more about the photo contest.

More than 20 individual photographers, along with a host of parents, partners, and other impropmtu artistic assistants, descended on Primrose Farm to join in the day-long event aimed at capturing that one picture capable of saying 1,000 words about the newest piece of preserved open space in New Jersey's Harding Township.

Click here to learn more about Harding's Primrose Farm.

Although competition was fierce in all three photographer age groups—13-and-under, 14-to-22, and 22-and-over—a panel of expert judges handpicked three submissions to take home top honors.

Each of the three winning photos is a true work of art.

Among those 22 and over, Michelle Hacker of Belcamp, Maryland, took the judges' collective breath away with her gorgeous, sepia-toned landscape, titled "Vintage Meadow," taken under the sheltering limbs of Primrose Farm's most distinctive oak tree.

"Vintage Meadow," by Michelle Hacker, Belcamp, MD.
Copyright ©2013 Great Swamp Watershed Association.

Among the 14-to-22-year-old contestants, Peri Levine of Bedminster, NJ, demonstrated a true facility and passion for wildlife photography with her snap of a perching dragonfly.

"Untitled," by Peri Levine, Bedminster, NJ.
Copyright ©2013 Great Swamp Watershed Association.

Among the 13-and-under crowd, Ashleigh Scully of Morristown, NJ, took first place with her photo, "Dawn at Primrose Farm."

"Dawn at Primrose Farm," by Ashleigh Scully, Morristown, NJ.
Copyright ©2013 Great Swamp Watershed Association.

All three photo contest winners received a gift certificate for $25 from Mpix.com. Each winner will also receive a full-size, framed print of their winning submission courtesy of our contest sponsors at Madison PhotoPlus (Madison, NJ) and The Image Maker Studio (Mendham, NJ).

Before the framed prints are turned over to our winners, they will hang for one month in a place of distinction at the Somerset County Environmental Education Center (EEC) located at 190 Lord Stirling Road in Basking Ridge, NJ. Stop by and have a look!

Although she was ever-so-slightly edged out of a victory in the 14-to-22-year-old age group, contestant Laurel Monks of Chatham Borough, NJ, received a very special honorable mention. She will not receive a gift certificate or a framed print, but her magnificently composed photo, "Twisting Through Time," will become the mascot for the Great Swamp Watershed Association's 2013 Gala Celebration. This year's gala will take place on Thursday, October 3, at the Westin Governor Morris in Morristown.

"Twisting Through Time," by Laurel Monks, Chatham, NJ.
Copyright ©2013 Great Swamp Watershed Association.

All of the submissions made to the Essence of Primrose Photo Contest are available for review on the Great Swamp Watershed Association's official Flickr page located at flickr.com/GSWA. This site also includes photos of Primrose Farm landscapes and widlife taken by GSWA volunteers and staff members. Enjoy!

Accolades for Bernards High School Students Working Toward Cleaner Water

Advanced Placement projects benefit Great Swamp Watershed Association, win award from The Nature Conservancy

Bernards High School students in Karen DeTrolio’s AP Environmental Studies class made a big splash with their year-end projects this June.  Working in teams of 3 or 4, they examined their own relationships with water and turned their discoveries into practical information everyone can use to avoid pollution and conserve natural resources.

The 20 projects, which included everything from a review of the impact of common household chemicals on water supplies, to an explanation of the links between clean water and healthy wildlife, were developed in partnership with the Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA).

Dedicated to protecting the waters and the land of New Jersey’s 55-square-mile Great Swamp Watershed region, GSWA will incorporate the students’ work into the organization’s upcoming Watershed Friendly Homes program.  GSWA Director of Education and Outreach Hazel England worked with DeTrolio to design the classroom collaboration and provided guidance and support to students as their research progressed.

“GSWA was excited to initiate this project and collaborate with students from a school within the watershed,” said England.  “Their work will form a cornerstone for future outreach to residents in Bernardsville and the nine other towns of the Great Swamp Watershed as GSWA launches its new Watershed Friendly Homes program aimed at changing water use behavior in the region.”

Students were asked to present their final projects over the course of two days to an audience made up of their peers and several visiting environmental experts from GSWA and other local community groups.  Visiting experts were asked to assess each group’s presentation, and choose their favorites.

Awards for excellence went to four groups of students.  Seniors Lauren Thomann, Abby Parker, and Erin O’Brien chose to survey their peers and the surrounding Bernardsville community to learn more about local water use and what might keep people from engaging in more conservation-oriented behavior.

Senior Morgan Blain, senior Christian Torres, and junior Jon Carter explored the true cost of bottled water production and what it would take to convince consumers to replace boutique water brands with ordinary, clean tap water.

Seniors Bina Patel, Kathryn Levin, and Edi Lima ventured under the sink to discover more about the environmental effects of those household cleaning products we all use and wash down the drain when we are done with them.

Seniors Addie Clayton, Erin Doran, and Sophie Reddi documented the construction of a rain barrel they and their friends built from scratch.  Their double-barrel rainwater collection system, which cost $200 to construct, is already at work diverting rain from the roof of Bernards High School into a courtyard garden where it nourishes a multitude of watershed friendly native plants.

A fifth group, which included seniors Matt Whitlock, Katie Hildebrandt, and Till Rosscamp, went above and beyond their teacher’s requirements and submitted their project to The Nature Conservancy for consideration in the environmental organization’s Show Us Your H2O competition for school groups and civic organizations from New Jersey’s Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Morris, and Somerset Counties.  Structuring their research to meet stringent contest parameters, the trio created a presentation that carefully tracked the source of drinking water for the Borough of Bernardsville, and systematically analyzed the environmental risks facing that water supply.

Their hard work was repaid in full when they took top honors for their submission.  As a reward, Matt, Katie, and Till will be acknowledged for their integral role in the placement of a new rain garden that The Nature Conservancy of New Jersey will construct free of charge on the grounds of Bernards High.

“I am so pleased with the success of the project for both the GSWA and for my students,” said Bernards High teacher Karen DeTrolio.  “It provided my classes with a meaningful project-based learning experience, and the GSWA with the building blocks for their Watershed Friendly Homes program.  As a teacher, it was incredibly rewarding to watch my students apply what they learned throughout the year to a real-life situation.”

Congratulations to all of the participating Bernards H.S. students for a job well done.  Their work will appear online early this fall as part of GSWA’s Watershed Friendly Homes program.

Local Organizations, Businesses Unite To Produce The Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt

Far-ranging geography game promotes awareness of nature, culture, history in northern New Jersey.

Morristown, NJ—On May 11, starting at 9:00 a.m., 18 area organizations and businesses will work together to present The Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt—a free, outdoor event created by the Great Swamp Watershed Association, and designed to promote greater public awareness of some of the most significant natural, cultural, and historical locations found in northern New Jersey.

Part game and part celebration, The Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt takes participants on a 40-mile adventure through the state’s Great Swamp Watershed region. This is the place where the mighty Passaic River rises, where George Washington’s troops survived the coldest winter of the Revolutionary War, where the U.S. government created the first federally-designated wilderness area east of the Mississippi, and where many seriously injured wild birds have found sanctuary and healing.

Scavengers spend a fun-filled day hunting down special tokens from more than 15 sites of interest throughout the watershed.  Featured locations include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, the National Park Service’s Morristown National Historical Park, Morris County Park Commission’s Great Swamp Outdoor Education Center, Somerset County Park Commission’s Environmental Education Center at Lord Stirling Park, New Jersey Audubon’s Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary, The Raptor Trust, Harding Land Trust’s Primrose Farms, the Great Swamp Watershed Association’s Conservation Management Area, the Friends of the Great Swamp’s Helen C. Fenske Visitor Center, Millington Gorge, Meyersville Café, and the Rolling Knolls Superfund site.

“What a great event,” said Jenny Gaus-Myers, superintendent of environmental education at the Morris County Park Commission.  “We love being part of the scavenger hunt and introducing lots of new visitors to our center and the wonders of the Great Swamp Watershed.”

Cathy Schrein, manager of Somerset County Park Commission’s Environmental Science Department, echoed Gaus-Myers’s sentiment, adding: “Events like The Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt and the Somerset County Environmental Education Center’s Swamp Search are such fun ways for the public to learn more about their immediate environment and to enjoy the outdoors.”

Geocaching enthusiasts will experience twice the fun at The Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt by logging special caches that have been carefully hidden at each location by members of Northern New Jersey Cachers (NNJC.org)—one of the nation’s most respected geocaching organizations.

“NNJC has partnered with GSWA for a number of years, from boardwalk construction and kiosk building, to presenting a spooky Halloween hike,” said John Neale, president of NNJC.  “Like geocaching, The Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt is another great example of getting folks together to enjoy the outdoors and learn about their local parks.”

At 4:00 p.m., scavengers will gather at Loantaka Brook Reservation’s Kitchell Pond Pavilion (Morris Township) where they will be treated to a free picnic barbeque and will be able to exchange the tokens they collect for an opportunity to win one of several top-notch prizes.

This year’s prizes include premium outdoor gear and gift certificates to notable area restaurants donated by event sponsors at Investors Bank of Madison, Morris Tap and Grill in Randolph, Meyersville Café in Long Hill Township, and Shanghai Jazz Restaurant and Bar in Madison.  Additional prizes and giveaways will be supplied by Blue Ridge Mountain Sports in Madison, Smarties Candy Company of Union Township, and other event partners.

“We want people to know that there is so much out there to see and learn in the Great Swamp,” said Liz Adinaro, head of marketing and media for Morris Tap and Grill.  “We believe in supporting our community, as the community gives back to us by visiting our restaurant.”

Food for the Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt Picnic will be donated by event sponsors at Whole Foods Market Rose City Madison, and Costco East Hanover.  Grills and buffet tables will be staffed by the Great Swamp Watershed Association and Northern New Jersey Cachers.

Scavenger hunters who choose to join the afternoon picnic are welcome to contribute a covered side dish to share with the rest of the group.  Drinks, hot dogs, hamburgers, and an additional healthy main dish will be offered free of charge while supplies last.

Visit GreatSwamp.org or call 973-538-3500 x22 for more complete information about The Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt, including start time and location, a basic description of rules, and picnic details.  Online registration is free and recommended.  Donations in support of the event are sincerely appreciated and may be made at time of registration or during the event at Kitchell Pond Pavilion.

Did You Know? ...An Owl Adventure

By Jim Northrop, GSWA Volunteer

It was a stormy night in September, a few hours after sunset, and I was feeling hungry. I would need to search for my dinner, so I set forth. This was farm country in northern New Jersey. I did not expect to find my dinner any time soon, but I noticed some lights, and movement to the right, and I went in that direction. Suddenly, I was stopped and fell to the ground ---- I had carelessly struck a glass picture window on the side of a farm house.

Oh, I forgot to tell you.  I am an owl ---- humans call me a great horned owl, and I guess I am bigger than other owls in New Jersey.  I stand about 22 inches tall and have a wingspan of about 55 inches (that's about 4 1/2 feet). I am a bird of prey, so when I look for my dinner, I catch, kill and eat other small animals in order to survive. An owl killing and eating another animal is no different from a robin eating a worm or a gull eating a fish.

Hunting at night, I use my extraordinary vision and excellent hearing to locate my prey. My wide wings, lightweight body and unusually soft, fluffy feathers allow me to fly silently. My eating habits might put you off, but when I seize a rodent or other small mammal, I kill it with my powerful feet. If the prey is small enough, I swallow it whole. Otherwise, I tear it apart with my hooked beak.

I am told that my amazing digestive system assimilates the nutritious portions of the prey. Then the undigested parts (hair, claws, teeth, etc.) are regurgitated in the form of pellets and scattered on the ground.

One blessing I have is that all owls are protected by state and Federal regulations. It is illegal to kill or capture an owl. It is also illegal to possess an owl, living or dead, without the proper permits from both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the State of New Jersey.

I can say with confidence that owls pose no threat to humans. Adult owls will, of course, defend their territory and their young against any intruders, human or otherwise. However, humans do not always return the favor. Humans continue to pose a number of threats to owls:  we sometimes collide with their automobiles and their windows, or we consume the environmental contaminants they leave around.  They also destroy the critical habitat, the fields and forests, where we live and hunt.

But, let me take you back to that September night when I collided with the large glass window.  I fell to the ground because, it turned out, one of my wings was broken.  I felt so vulnerable, lying there helpless on the ground.  It was a very long and scary night for me.  But, at sunrise I heard footsteps. The farmer was outside and about to do his chores, when he noticed me and came over for a closer look.

The farmer, being experienced with animals, saw immediately that my wing was broken ---- perhaps it was the bone fragments poking through the skin of my wing. He knew what to do, and went to the barn to bring back a blanket.  He placed the blanket over me carefully, scooped me up and set me in a large cardboard box, which he placed in the cab of his pick-up truck.  Then he told his wife he was headed to The Raptor Trust in Millington, at the edge of the Great Swamp, to find some help for me.

Fortunately, The Raptor Trust staff were able to accommodate. They began their care by getting an X-ray of my broken wing.  Sure enough, there were breaks in two places, so they pinned the bone fragments back into place. I was encouraged by their kind manner ---- perhaps I would fly again, after all.  The staff also recognized the damage to the soft tissue of my wing (muscles, blood vessels, etc.). Circulation to the wing could well have been compromised, preventing it from healing. Only time would tell. I would need to be patient.

By mid-November the bones were starting to knit together.  It was time to remove the pins that had been put in to hold the bone fragments together.  The staff at The Raptor Trust seemed happy with my progress, but the injured wing was tight, unable to extend fully.  I knew I wouldn't be able to fly like that.

Progress was slow, but by February I was flying short distances. Then they decided to move me to a bigger flight cage to see what I could do. Even though I had flown a bit, it still took time to regain the strength and stamina I had lost while recuperating.  They put me in the largest flight cage at The Raptor Trust, and by mid-April I was flying like an eagle. I was ready to go home.

Before release, I was fitted with a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service band. The metal band will remain on my leg for the rest of my life. If humans ever encounter me again, it can easily be determined where and when I was banded. I overheard that banding birds is important because it allows for the study of bird movements, survival and life span.

The folks at The Raptor Trust didn't just open the cage and shoo me away. It was decided to transport me back to the farm where I had gotten into trouble because, after all, that is my home. After the drive, they removed me from my transport crate and released me into the air. It was great to take a few powerful flaps and soar over familiar territory. I think I even saw a farewell wave from my Raptor Trust friends as I soared away ----- home again.

Happy Earth Day from the Great Swamp Watershed Association!

istockphoto.com/pearleye

Earth Day 2013 is here! According to the Earth Day Network, more than a billion people in 192 countries are participating in related events around the globe.

Since this year's official observance falls on a Monday, most folks are probably spending the day at work. But, remember that April is often called "Earth Month" and this week is often called "Earth Week." Perhaps you marked Earth Day early at an event this past weekend or earlier in April.  Perhaps you're observing it in the days to come. When you get right down to it, any day is a good day for an Earth Day celebration!

Help GSWA keep this year's Earth Day spirit alive and kicking throughout May too! There are few ways you can help.

Volunteer

Why not become a GSWA volunteer?

There are two important volunteer opportunities coming up soon. On Sunday, May 5, Laura Kelm, our director of water quality programs, is looking for volunteers to help with our annual stream restoration project. This event, which is our version of a traditional Earth Day cleanup, will take place at Kitchell Pond in the heart of Morris County's Loantaka Brook Reservation. We will be building a new vegetated buffer around the pond that will work to curb the negative effects of  stormwater runnoff and erosion. Much of the work will center around planting native shrubs and plants that slow down stormwater flow and help absorb water into the ground. For more information about this event, visit https://greatswamp.ejoinme.org/Sp13StreamRest.

Sunday, May 19 is your opportunity to become a member of GSWA's Stream Team at our biannual stream assessment training for volunteers. Held twice a year (once in the fall and once in the spring), GSWA's visual assessment training teaches volunteers how to observe and record important scientific data about our local stream reaches, including information like stream depth, stream width, and the presence or absence of streambank erosion. Trained Stream Team members are in short supply, so please help us out by coming to this event. For more information about this hands-on, indoor-outdoor workshop, visit https://greatswamp.ejoinme.org/Sp13StreamAssess.

Learn

Take some time to educate yourself on an important environmental topic: climate change.

The Face of Climate Change is the theme that Earth Day Network—an international nonprofit that has been working to mobilize and diversify the environmental movement for many years—has given to Earth Day 2013. In celebration of that theme, GSWA has created a special event that will focus on climate change issues and how they will specifically affects those of us living here in northern New Jersey.

On Monday, May 13, GSWA, the Somerset County Park Commission, and the Passaic River Institute will convene a special panel discussion called "The Challenges of Climate Change and Building Resilient Communities." This event, which takes place at 7PM at the Somerset County Environmental Education Center in Basking Ridge, will feature a panel of climate change experts from Montclair State University. Topics for discussion will include everything from the documented rise in average temperatures in New Jersey, to the important, but often overlooked, role of human relationships in preparing for and recovering from severe climatic events. For more information about this public panel discussion, visit https://greatswamp.ejoinme.org/Sp13ClimatePanel.

Join

Become a GSWA member right now!

Make Earth Day your everyday by making a financial commitment to the only group solely dedicated to protecting the waters and land of the Great Swamp Watershed.

There are plenty of benefits for members: a biannual print newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on watershed happenings, a monthly eNewsletter that notifies you of important breaking environmental news, free participation in GSWA events and invitations to special get-togethers, and much more.

We need your help all year long! Click here to become a member right now.

Public Forum Will Focus On Local Community Response To Changing Climate, Worsening Weather

Multidisciplinary panel of experts from Montclair State University will share climate change perspectives at Somerset County Environmental Education Center, May 13.

A spate of unusual weather events, including hurricanes, flooding, drought, and unseasonable snowfalls, have focused New Jersey’s attention on the current and future consequences of global climate change.

While national debate in the U.S. lingers over abstract arguments about the existence or non-existence of global warming and other climate issues, local communities and individuals struggle to deal with new climate realities, such as the destruction wrought by Superstorm Sandy, frequent flooding along the Passaic River, and a wealth of predictions forecasting more and more-severe weather events.

Clearer information and a more complete message about the broad impact of ongoing climate change phenomena is needed if we expect ourselves to bounce back from intensifying natural disasters.  The need is critical if we expect our communities and our social institutions to effectively adapt to protect us as the natural world we live in continues to change.

The Great Swamp Watershed Association, Somerset County Park Commission, and Montclair State University’s Passaic River Institute, will work together this spring to help local communities build a base of knowledge aimed at responding to local climate change issues and locating resources for estimating future effects on our region.

On May 13, the groups will convene a public panel discussion at the Somerset County Environmental Education Center titled, “The Challenges of Climate Change and Building Resilient Communities.”

The panel of presenters will include climate change experts drawn from several different academic departments at Montclair State University, including the Department of Anthropology, the Department of Biology and Molecular Biology, the Department of Earth and Environmental Studies, and the School of Business.

Click here for a complete list of panelists.

Short, topical presentations from each expert will address a wide range of local concerns, including the documented rise in average temperatures in New Jersey, the unprecedented increase in public awareness of weather phenomena, the connection between land development and flooding in New Jersey, the public health implications of post-traumatic stress in the wake of natural disasters, climate-change best practices for the business community, and the important, but often overlooked, role of human relationships in preparing for and recovering from severe climatic events.

Panel moderator Dr. Meyin Wu, director of the Passaic River Institute and professor of Biology and Molecular Biology at MSU, will open the forum for public discussion and questions from the audience following the completion of presentations.

This event will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will conclude at or after 8:30 p.m.  The Somerset County Environmental Education Center is located at 190 Lord Stirling Road in Basking Ridge, NJ. Advanced registration is strongly recommended. Please register online at GreatSwamp.org, or call 973-538-3500 x22 to register by telephone.

Registration is free of charge, but voluntary donations are gratefully accepted.

Discover Nature’s Neighborhood at the Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt

Great Swamp Watershed Association’s far-ranging, day-long game spotlights 15 northern New Jersey landmarks.

It’s back! The Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt returns on May 11, 2013. Are you ready for another fun-filled day of exploration and discovery?

Last year’s hunt was a real hit. Take it from Florham Park resident Liz Adinaro who said, “It was awesome!...I can't wait to come back this year with the kids.”

Created and hosted by the Great Swamp Watershed Association, the Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt is a day-long adventure game that is one of the most entertaining ways to discover—or rediscover—some of the great sites of natural, cultural, and historic importance tucked away in northern New Jersey.

The concept is simple. Stop by the Kitchell Pond Pavilion at Loantaka Brook Reservation (75 Kitchell Road in Morristown) to pick up your official Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt Clue Kit—including GPS coordinates for geocachers—any time after 9:00 a.m.  When you’re ready, hop on your bike, or into your car, and set out to collect as many scavenger hunt tokens as you can from a total of 19 different locations in Morris County and Somerset County.

Participating sites include the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Morristown National Historical Park, the Somerset County Environmental Education Center, Morris County’s Outdoor Education Center, The Raptor Trust, the Schermann Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary, Meyersville Café, and Millington Gorge, so there will be plenty of exciting things to see and do along the way!

Return to Kitchell Pond Pavilion by 4:00 p.m. with a healthy appetite and as many tokens as you can.  Every token collected is a chance to win one of several fantastic prizes donated by local businesses and organizations.  Last year’s prizes included a four-person tent, a high-end foldable camp chair, a NorthFace Recon backpack, a Mountainsmith camera bag, and lots of other outdoor recreational equipment.

Before prizes are awarded, enjoy a picnic barbeque courtesy of Great Swamp Watershed Association. Drinks, hot dogs, and burgers will be supplied. Feel free to contribute your own side dish to the covered dish buffet too! (Remember to bring along your own lawn chairs, blankets, or other alfresco dining supplies.)

To register for the Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt, or to find more information, please visit GreatSwamp.org or call 973-538-3500 x22.  Participation is free, but donations to the Great Swamp Watershed Association are gratefully accepted.  RSVPs via online or telephone registration are appreciated.

Did You Know? About Wood Frogs

Did you know that wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) are famous for their ability to survive the cold? That's right! This little hopper happily endures the freezing and thawing of its blood and tissues as it waits out the harshest North American winters.

How is this natural magic accomplished? Just before Jack Frost arrives, the wood frog collects an organic compound called urea inside its body. (Many different animals, including human beings, produce urea as part of their normal metabolic processes.) When those cold temperatures start setting in, the frog also starts to turn another substance, liver glycogen, into a simple sugar called glucose. The increased amounts of urea and glucose in the frog's body act just like an anti-freeze fluid—the official scientific term is "cryoprotectant"—limiting the number of ice crystals able to form in and around the frog's tissues and organs.

In fact, the anti-freeze works so well that healthy wood frogs may be able to survive a winter with as much as 65% of the water in their bodies frozen. That certainly is an important trick to know when you choose to hibernate just below the soil surface or beneath the leaf litter of a northern forest.

Wood frogs can be found as far south as Georgia in the eastern United States, and as far north as Canada's Labrador province. Their range stretches west through the Great lakes region, across Canada, and throughout most of Alaska. The wood frog is a native species here in our own Great Swamp.

Because the wood frog requires the existence of ephemeral wetlands, like the vernal pools at Great Swamp Watershed Association's Conservation Management Area, to survive and reproduce, it's important to make sure we preserve these special habitats from bulldozers and overdevelopment.

For more about wood frogs, see the following websites:

• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070220-frog-antifreeze.html
• https://blogs.montclair.edu/njsoc/2012/03/05/frog-blog-a-winter-nights-dream/
• http://www.alaskacenters.gov/wood-frog.cfm
• http://www.uri.edu/cels/nrs/paton/LH_wood_frog.html

For kids:

• http://www.kidzone.ws/lw/frogs/facts-woodfrog.htm

Check out this video too!

(Article source: Wood Frogs. Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_frog)

Rest and Be Thankful?

Okay, but consider volunteering at our Conservation Management Area (CMA) on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and the Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA) will be more thankful!

GSWA will hold a post-hurricane clean up and workday at its Conservation Management Area (CMA) on Sunday, November 25, 2012.

The workday will run 9:30 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.

The CMA is located at 1 Tiger Lily Lane in Harding, although many GPS systems place the location in Morristown.

There are tasks for all—from brush cleanup to moving chainsawed logs off the trail, to boardwalk repairs and fencing renovations—in the wake of Sandy's unwelcome redesign of the property.

We will have work gloves, simple tools, and snacks but if there are any chainsaw experts out there we could use their EXPERT help.

All those intersted in helping out are asked to email GSWA's Director of Outreach and Education Hazel England (hazele[at]greatswamp.org) with their availability.  Please provide some indication of the type of tasks you prefer—light-duty or heavy-duty. It's also helpful to let Hazel know how many other volunteers you plan to bring with you.

Anyone who has NOT volunteered for us in the past will need to read and sign a volunteer release form, so please RSVP if you are thinking about attending.

Coffee and donuts will be available starting at 9:00 a.m.

This is your chance to get away from family after the long Thanksgiving holiday, or an opportunity to bring all those relatives together to work as a team to help recover and restore the public trails at the CMA.

Spring's Almost Here! Time To Get Out And Volunteer!

Need an excuse to more spend time outdoors? Want to protect the local environment? Think you have what it takes to help out in your community? If so, then Great Swamp Watershed Association invites you to volunteer with us in March. Help us clean and enhance our open spaces, and learn how you can help protect our local streams and waterways from contamination and destruction. It's easy, and we'll supply the equipment you need. Here are some upcoming events where you can help—

March 18 — Annual Stream Cleanup & Enhancement at Loantaka Reservation

GSWA will hold its annual stream cleanup and enhancement at Loantaka Brook Reservation on March 18, 2012 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Activities along the banks of Loantaka Brook will include invasive plant removal, planting native plants, and trash cleanup. Volunteers ages 15 and above should wear long pants, long sleeves, and shoes or boots that can get wet and muddy. Participants should gather at the South Street Recreation Area located at 434 South Street, Morristown, NJ.

Click here to volunteer for this event!

March 24 — Spring Cleaning Day at the CMA

Please join GSWA's Dir. of Outreach and Education and Land Steward Hazel England from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for a spring cleanup at our 53-acre Conservation Management Area (CMA) in Harding, NJ. GSWA relies on the support and work of volunteers as we maintain and restore this important open space to become a functional floodplain forest again. Work on March 24 will focus preparing the property for springtime visitors. Tasks will include chipping, mulching and edging trails, cleaning nest boxes so they are ready for spring residents, and carrying lumber to help build boardwalks over the wettest portions. All tools and supplies will be provided. Show up with energy and enthusiasm, and we will handle the rest. Location: GSWA CMA, 1 Tiger Lily Road, Morristown, NJ.

Click here to volunteer for this event!

March 31 — Stream Assessment Training for Volunteers

Want to get outside and help GSWA? We are looking for a few good volunteers to conduct visual assessments of streams in our watershed. Visual assessments are conducted at stream reaches throughout the region twice per year, and they help us to know what’s happening along our streams. During an assessment, volunteers record information about the amount of canopy cover over the stream, nearby land uses, the clarity of the water, and more. Before you are ready to conduct an assessment, you will need to attend our training session. Our next training session takes place on March 31, 2012, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and will also cover macroinvertebrate assessments. Location: GSWA Office, 568 Tempe Wick Road, Morristown, NJ.

Click here to volunteer for this event!

*Please remember to dress and prepare appropriately for all our volunteer events. Outdoor work will often be wet and muddy, so boots or sturdy shoes are recommended. Long pants and long-sleeve shirts are also recommended. Please feel free to bring your own snacks, and we encourage the use of a reusable water bottle for any beverages you bring along. Please remember to recycle or properly dispose of any refuse.

For more information, visit www.GreatSwamp.org. Write to GSWA at events@greatswamp.org, or call us at 973-538-3500.

You May Be Living With a Few Energy Thieves!

By Jim Northrop, GSWA Member

Electricity use by power-hungry household consumer electronic devices is rising fast. For example, the very popular, new flat-panel televisions have turned out to consume more electricity than some refrigerators. And then there are personal computers (how many do you already have in your house?). What about iPods, cell phones, game consoles and digital clocks? The New York Times reports that Americans now have as many as 25 consumer electronic products in each household, compared with just three in 1980.

Appliances like refrigerators are covered by mandatory efficiency rules specifying how much power each category of appliance may use. The New York Times claims that today's new refrigerators consume only about 55% of the power consumed when the standards took effect. Further, the Times says that a new clothes washer today is nearly 70% lower in energy consumption than a new unit in 1990. But, don't relax -- now we have a growing, off-setting challenge, which may eventually cancel out the energy savings of appliance standards. Makers of consumer electronic devices have been successful in resisting the application of such energy efficiency standards to their products.

Most Consumer Electronic Devices Never Sleep
One way this is a different kind of challenge, is that many modern consumer electronic devices cannot be entirely turned off. Even when not in use, they draw electricity while they wait for a signal from a remote control, or wait to record a television program.

Of course, a single-minded person can find many of these electronic devices around the house, and turn them off when not in use -- but, in most homes there are so many of them! And some family-member users are particularly difficult to "police." There are some ways to let the problem take care of itself, however, if one takes the time to set it up properly. For example, plug the computers and entertainment devices into "smart" power strips. The strips turn off when the electronics are not in use, cutting power consumption to zero.

Another difficulty in controlling power wasted by consumer electronics devices is that many products now require large amounts of power to run. Flat-screen TV is perhaps the biggest offender. As liquid crystal displays and plasma technologies replace the old cathode ray tubes, and as screen sizes increase, the new televisions need more power than older models did. How often is the TV left operating when the viewers have all left the room?

Until energy usage by consumer electronic devices is better regulated, each of us must be more vigilant. While energy waste per device may seem trivial, it adds up fast.

How to Recognize a Truly “Green” Home

By Jim Northrop, GSWA Member

I find it hard to go to a hardware or home improvement store without being almost overwhelmed by the many products and new materials competing for attention as a “must have” step toward becoming environmentally “correct.” How to make my home into a “greener” place has become an ongoing learning process for me.

Having a “green” home is not just a fad. A “green” home uses less energy, water and natural resources, creates less waste, reduces greenhouse gases, and is healthier for the people living inside, compared to a standard home.

A home can be built “green,” or one can make it “green” later. A “green” make-over can happen all at once, or it can be a gradual process. But what it all comes down to, I think, is a new way of thinking and a new way of living. Commercial developers and building owners are perhaps the most important part of the equation. Architects and engineers have traditionally taken their cue from clients regarding a building’s environmental performance. The standard practice has been to focus more on construction costs than long-term operational costs. With a typical building lifespan of 75 years, however, maintenance and other ongoing expenditures often prove to be much greater than the initial costs. This makes energy efficiency, for example, an excellent investment over time.

What Shade of “Green?”
With so many voices advocating different ways to get to “green,” I started looking for some standards. I found that the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit trade organization, has been a pioneer in defining standards for “green” building design, construction, operation and maintenance, by offering a LEED certification for those building projects which qualify. “LEED” stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.” Importantly, it is homes and other building PROJECTS which may be certified, not builders; but any builder is eligible to register a project with LEED. This is a voluntary rating system, with inspections by qualified third parties, and is appropriate for a wide range of “green” situations, including “green” homes, affordable housing, mass-production homes, custom designs, stand-alone single-family homes, duplexes and townhouses, suburban and urban apartments and condominiums and lofts in historic buildings.

Apparently, I was not the only one doing some learning! This year the latest version of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED building performance certification system will begin requiring the submission of building operation performance data on a recurring basis and as a pre-condition to certification. USGBC had found too often a performance gap between the energy modeling done during the design phase and what actually happens during daily operation after the building is constructed. So, ongoing monitoring and reporting of data will be required. It is thought that this will improve building performance by bringing to light external issues such as occupant behavior or unanticipated building energy use and water consumption patterns.